Avera building $11M cancer center

April 20, 2013|BY Jeff Natalie-Lees, jnatalie-lees@aberdeennews.com

Avera St. Luke's Hospital plans to build an $11 million cancer center at least five times as big as its current cancer facility.

The center would allow Avera to offer expanded services, help attract cancer specialists to the area and solidify Aberdeen's reputation as a regional cancer treatment hub, officials said. The facility would be named after Don and Carmen Meyer.

Avera is very excited to move into the next generation of cancer care services, said Todd Forkel, president and CEO.

The greatest benefit will be to cancer patients, said Dr. Richard Conklin, longtime oncologist in Aberdeen who is helping develop the center.

"The goal is to have all the things a cancer patient needs under one roof," he said. "We are looking at including all the ancillary support services — things like hospice, social work, physical therapy, a spa, a psychologist — in the same building. It is not just about making what we have bigger."

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While the exact location of the center has not be finalized, it likely will be built onto the southeast corner of the hospital, Forkel said.

Other standalone locations have been considered, but a center attached to the hospital would be the most convenient for patients, staff and physicians, he said.

Conklin said several proposals are being considered, including stand-alone buildings near the center, such as housing for families with relatives in cancer treatment.

Forkel said the project will move forward as quickly as feasible.

"A project of this size and magnitude typically takes two to three years from inception to finish," he said.

Don Meyer, former Northern State University basketball coach, and his wife, Carmen, will support the center financially and help raise funds to build it.

"Avera has had a long and important relationship with Don Meyer, as has the entire Aberdeen community," Forkel said. "We are privileged to be able to partner with him on this project."

Don Meyer is receiving cancer treatment at the Avera Cancer Center in Aberdeen. His cancer was discovered in his liver and intestines during emergency surgery in Sioux Falls after a car crash on Sept. 5, 2008. His lower left leg was amputated below the knee because of injuries from the car crash. In spite of the injury and cancer, he returned to coaching.

His inspirational story was chronicled in the book "How Lucky You Can Be: The Story of Coach Don Meyer," written by ESPN analyst Buster Olney.

"I realize how important this is to our area," Meyer said. "We are confident this new center will offer hope for all cancer patients for many years to come."

The current 6,000-square-feet Cancer Care Center at Avera is cramped for space, Conklin said.

"I need 15,000 square feet just for what I do," he said. "When I started 23 years ago, I had one nurse and one assistant. Now I supervise 30 employees."

On any given day, 100 to 150 patients visit the cancer center for examinations, chemotherapy, radiation treatments or lab tests, he said.

On Thursday morning, for example, 15 patients were receiving intravenous chemotherapy in a modest-size group treatment room. There were 10 nurses there either attending to them or writing case notes. There were two patients in private treatment rooms getting chemotherapy. The small waiting room in the lobby was nearly full.

The center has such a need for space that Conklin has given up his private office and now has his computer on the nurse's station counter.

"As you can see, we could use some more space," he said.

The need for expanded cancer services is especially important given the increase in the disease. There are about 8,000 new cases of cancer diagnosed each year in the Dakotas, Conklin said.

"I've seen a steady increase in my practice and currently have more than 17,000 patients visit a year in my clinic," Conklin said. "Nationally, they are predicting a 67 percent increase in cancer incidence in older adults in the next 20 years. With our region's population of people over 65 running about 22 percent compared to 14 percent nationally, we can expect more need for cancer services in our region."

Conklin is the only full-time practicing oncologist in Aberdeen. The new facility would be a huge boost to Avera's recruiting efforts to attract additional oncologists, including perhaps a pediatric oncologist, he said.

"If we have the facilities, these doctors could see this as a good career move," he said.

Another advantage of a larger cancer center is the opportunity to engage in more research and clinical trials, he said. The research includes the use of experimental drugs for cancer cases that are not responding to traditional treatments. Conklin does some of that now but could do more in a bigger center with other oncologists.

While the price tag on the center has been set at $11 million, the final price would likely be anywhere from $10 million to $20 million, depending on fundraising, Conklin said

While the center will be much smaller than the Avera Cancer Institute in Sioux Falls, it will nonetheless be substantial.

"This will be very big," he said. "For this region, it will be stunning."